


somebody to somebody

by Hugabug



Series: bayaniserye drabble challenge [19]
Category: Heneral Luna (2015)
Genre: Break Up, Gen, Light Angst, Weddings, just a little bad lang, part of the prof/ta au, pre-Nanridel, so don't feel so bad for ninong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 05:16:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7495302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hugabug/pseuds/Hugabug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Miong and Pole are happy, Selong wants to get drunk, and Pepe is surprisingly perceptive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	somebody to somebody

The reception is oddly glitzy and, as much as Selong knew Miong to be rather frivolous in his plans and exploits, he knew, instantly, the second he stepped into the venue, that none of this was the young Caviteño’s doing.

Not that Miong probably minded. He was too busy staring at his new husband to actually care. 

“Are you going to eat that?”

Selong rolled his eyes and pushed his plate of strawberry panna cotta toward Pepe with a sigh. “It’s all yours.” he said, waving a hand over the desert sarcastically before turning back to his empty champagne flute. He frowned at it, vaguely wondering where all his booze had gone before shrugging and making a move to get up to get some more.

However, before he could so much as get out of his seat, Pepe grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down to his seat.

“Stop sulking.” the Calamban whispered around a mouthful of sweet cream. He looked like a child, with strawberry sauce smeared across the left part of his lip, and his appearance sure was deceiving, but Selong saw the hard look of intelligent concern in his eyes.

He slumped in his seat and shrugged his friend’s hand off.

“I’m not sulking.” he said.

Pepe scoffed. “Yeah, right. You’ve been staring at them all night. Stop it, Hillaria’s starting to glare and it’s creepy.”

“Hillaria’s a sweetheart.” Selong said. “Wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Are we talking about the same Hillaria? I don’t think we are.”

“ _I’m not staring at them_.”

Pepe’s fork clattered against the porcelain of his plate. The sound was loud, not loud enough to draw attention, but loud enough for Selong to jump and register the tight grip his friend suddenly had around his left wrist.

“You’re lying.” Pepe said, low but matter-of-fact, looking straight into Selong’s eyes with a glint of concern that gave away the hardness. “Don’t do that. Not with me.”

Selong wanted to laugh, giggle that little condescending giggle that drove Pepe up the wall on good days. But there wasn’t much energy left in him anymore for even a smile, much less for a cover up. He’s been up since four o’clock in the morning and running on badly made decaf since lunch, and maybe Pepe was right. Maybe seeing Pole and Miong together was making him slightly depressed.

_God_ , he needed a drink.

“It’s not what you think.” Selong said, stealing his champagne before turning away from his best friend’s inquisitive eyes to down it all in one gulp.

“Then explain.” Pepe urged, picking up his fork again. “Because I’m pretty sure you were over him.”

“I _am_  over him.” Selong argued, sighing a bit at the pleasant fizz of the alcohol down his throat. “Since there wasn’t much to get over in the first place.”

“Ah, but _that_ ,” Pepe wagged a finger at him, one eyebrow raised. “My friend, is where you’re wrong.”

“Oh? How so?”

“You wouldn’t be sulking and staring at them if you weren’t over something.”

“I wasn’t staring at _them_.” Selong retorted. “I was staring at the way–”

His voice cracked. He rubbed a hand over his face.

Pepe made a pained sound. “At the way?”

“At the way he looks at him.” Selong finished, sighing into his palm as his eyes once again alighted on the happy couple, quietly sequestered in their own private corner, heads bent together, hands obviously clutching each other’s beneath the table. Even from afar, Selong could see Pole’s eyes glistening with a delight that only ever seemed to appear whenever around Miong. His smile reached his ears, too, and the whole picture made something in Selong’s throat burn.

“He never looked at me like that, you know?” he said, to Pepe and to himself, like some sort of sick mantra that only became easily swallowed when said aloud. “We were together for two years and not once did he ever look at me like that. I mean, it was my fault, too. I was almost never around. 

But, then again, who’d want to be around someone who so obviously had it bad for someone else, right?”

“I just…” he said, breathing in heavily before letting out a long breath that relieved a little bit of the burning in his throat. “I want someone to look at me like that.”

_I want somebody to look at me like I actually matter._

Pepe took hold of his arm and gave it a squeeze. He didn’t say anything, and for that, Selong was grateful.

“I’m going to go get a drink.” he sighed, patting his friend’s hand before getting up, champagne flute in hand. “I really hope that punch is spiked.”

“The mini bar’s open.” Pepe supplied, helpfully. “Free drinks.”

“Nah, I’d rather not make a fool of myself and ruin the evening.” he shook his head. “Pole’s still holding my coffee hostage.”

He raised his empty glass in a mock salute that turned out to be more like a shrug. He made to turn but just as he did, Pepe called out to him once more.

“Hey,” he said, smiling when Selong looked over his shoulder at him. “You still got me.”

That made Selong laugh. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” he giggled, causing the Calamban to playfully go full pout. The sight made Selong soften enough to let slip a small smile. Reaching out, he ruffled his best friend’s hair and cupped the nape of his neck.

“Thank you.” he said. “You’re amazing.”

“Wow, ah. Hindi man lang ‘ _You’re so gwapo’_?”

That startled a laugh out of Selong. He yanked at Pepe’s hair. “ _Tanga_.”

Pepe shrugged. Grinned. “Guilty!”

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr ver.](http://en-sam-malas.tumblr.com/post/147452363180/somebody-to-somebody)
> 
> don’t worry. this is the prof/ta au. this is legit one hour before selong meets naning and they hook up in naning’s hotel room. srsly. [read these](http://en-sam-malas.tumblr.com/post/145800335927/nanridel-headcanons-profta-au). it’s legit.


End file.
